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Korea – Part 1

Surprise! I went to Korea!

Back in May, my family and I finally got to travel all together to South Korea! This was a trip we've been wanting to do as a family for a really long time, and we finally made it happen this year.

I recorded some Cat Chat episodes detailing more about my trip for those patreon patrons, but I wanted to share some of the many photos I took on my adventure! 🙂

I've got five posts planned for y'all that I'll scatter across the next coming week. I hope you all enjoy!

Photo of a bison mural in the Salt Lake City airport
Here's a part of a mural I fell in love with found in the Salt Lake City airport

I ended up flying way more during the entirety of this trip than I have ever flown prior in my life LMAOO

I'm a Window Seat Andy that loves taking these airplane window pictures.

Window seat photo of snow capped mountains on my way from Fresno to Utah
Some snow-capped peaks as I flew from Fresno to Utah
Window seat photo of the pacific ocean on our way to Korea
Flying over the Pacific Ocean

We arrived in Seoul rather late in the night. Here's a look at an art installation they had in the airport—

Photo of a whale sculpture created out of different flora found in Korea and wood

After we visited my grandmother, the next day we were off to Jeju Island!

Photo of the "Hello Jeju" sign

One of the places we visited on Jeju Island was this incredbile Buddha temple.

Photo of the temple architecture

When I first walked inside and saw this it truly took my breath away. I'm a sucker for dragons, but just the sheer size alone of the sculptures and statues, and the lighting, was awe-inspiring. You could really feel a strong, spiritual presence in this place. All across Korea, cities were preparing for the celebration of Buddha's birthday while we were there, and I think that contributed to that energy as well.

Worm's eye view of the ceiling of the Buddha temple. There are a variety of square tiles that have beautiful designs featuring cranes, dragons, and more.

Every square inch of this place was covered in beautiful detail, craftsmanship, and art. And it had me wondering if that's possibly where the maximal stylistic tendencies I have within my art come from LMAOOO

Photo of an intricately carved dragon mural

Photo of one of the giant dragons wrapped around one of the main entrance pillars
Photo inside the Buddha temple showing the golden architecture and dragon heads hanging from the side of this wall

This is also where I learned that my ancestors were furries—

Close up photo of a mural found in the Buddha temple featuring an anthro Dragon

The temple also had these beautiful, serene gardens and grounds outside. Here's me standing in-between two of Jeju's iconic Dol Hareubang—stone grandfather—volcanic statues. Dol Hareubangs come in all shapes and sizes, and you can find them all over the island! 🙂

Photo of me standing in between two dol hareubang statues with the Buddha temple behind me